K-Rino makes better rap songs than Chris Webby

Originally this was supposed to be "K-Rino is a better rapper than Webby" but RM insisted that we change the context of the debate to give him the apparent advantage. I was reluctant but ultimately willing to accommodate this because either way he cannot escape the inevitable truth.

5 reasons why people listen to music at work

1. Relaxation: “It calms me down”, “eases my stress”

Music at work can contribute to relaxation by channeling your stress and negative emotions, and can remind you of not being at work. It can also provide a mini-break from being mentally active and allow you rest and recover. In this sense, music can create a sense of well-being in offices by putting employees in a good mood.

2. Concentration: “It improves my ability to focus on what I am working on”

Music can aid your concentration by suppressing distractions around the office. Some people experience these effects when they do simpler tasks, but it could also help when doing more complex work. You can control your soundscape in the office and replace external interruptions with sounds of your choice (more on this in reason 4).

3. Emotional management: “It helps me to remain positive”

Music can be inspirational; it can encourage thoughts and motivate you. It can act as a stress reliever and be a‘fellow sufferer’ in a public space, where it might not be appropriate to act out all your frustrations. It can also provide a sense of company when your working space is too quiet or empty.

4. It blocks out distractions: “It helps me concentrate, especially when someone else is in the office, or talking on the phone, or having a meeting nearby”

Being able to block out distractions can be a way to cope with stress, as it gives you more control over your environment. Headphones in particular help to improve concentration in two ways.

1. They block out other sounds. Employees often use headphones to block out surrounding noise from the environment or colleagues.
   
2. They act as a ‘do not disturb’ sign. Employees also use headphones to send a visual signal that they are busy and not to be interrupted by others.
   

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5. It creates variation and helps you think about something else: “If music was not my distraction, then something unproductive would be, such as fiddling with papers or gazing out of the window”

Music can provide you with a diversion so you don’t engage in other distracting behaviours. It’s a strategy to manage internal interruptions like daydreams or thoughts that could make you lose your flow. It might also stop you from doing other unproductive things like browsing the internet or chatting with colleagues.

The history of music and working

Listening to music while working is by no means a new innovation. Songs, for a long time helped people synchronise their movements and made the day go quicker. In the 1930s, recorded music was often used in factories to improve productivity and reduce boredom and fatigue.

Today, technology has made it easier to listen to your own music at work. Many employees have access to music through mp3 players, smartphones and via the internet, and can make choices about what to listen to that previously would not have been possible.

Does it always work?

Academic research shows that listening to music at work can help improve your mood, relax you and make you feel happier. However, it can have its drawbacks, too. Loud music can irritate your co-workers and headphones can isolate you from your team, which is not always a good thing.

Generally, it’s most beneficial when you have control over what you are listening to. If music is forced upon people, it can be irritating and annoying, and we know from research that office noise can have severe negative effects on employee health, well-being and productivity.

But when employees can have control over when, where and what they listen to, music can clearly bring about real benefits to individual employees, and ultimately to the company.

Sources:

Haake, A.B. (2011) Individual music listening in workplace settings: an exploratory survey of offices in the UK. Musicae Scientiae, 15 (1)

Haake, A.B. (2010). Music listening in UK offices: Balancing internal needs and external considerations. Doctoral thesis. Music Department, University of Sheffield, UK.

Why Do We Listen to Music?

Musical preference changes with age. Mature listeners are often baffled by the musical choices of younger people - what is inspiring and uplifting to one is a terrible cacophony to another. Similarly, teenagers rarely “get” the tunes their parents find enjoyable. Musical taste is non-objective, and therefore very difficult to study scientifically up to the point that some say that there is no sense in arguing about musical preference. The teenager may never understand why mom loves the song “White room” and the mom may never be able to appreciate the aesthetic value of “We Dem Boyz”.

What is behind this disconnect? Music listening is a powerful way to support well-being, irrespective of age. However, according to a study published this July by Jenny Groarke and Michael Hogan from the National University of Ireland, younger and older people listen to music for different reasons and experience benefits to well-being through different mechanisms.

In the study, researchers sought to explain why younger and older adults listen to music, and how the reported reasons for music listening are connected to well-being. The participants were 25 young adults (18-30 yrs) and 19 older adults (60-75 yrs). They investigated music listening habits through Interactive Management, a technique that comprises facilitated group discussions. The method contained three phases: 1) idea generation 2) voting, and 3) structural modeling.

The first phase, idea generation, entailed posing a simple question “Why do you listen to music?” to both participant groups. The participants first independently generated answers to this question. The answers were then pooled for the second step which involved the participants voting for five ideas they felt were most significant for supporting well-being. In the third phase, the participants examined overarching structures connecting the reasons for music listening and well-being outcomes with the help of special software.

Why We Listen to Music - SyncProject.co

In the first idea generation phase of the method, participants came up with several answers to the question of why they listen to music. In the younger subjects, reasons for music listening included things like stress relief, bonding, and personal meaning. In older subjects, reasons included meditative effects, reducing loneliness, and novelty. The reasons for music listening were then pooled into categories and after the voting phase, the most popular categories could be compared. The younger participants voted social connection, affect regulation and reminiscence as most important factors that connect music listening to well-being. The older participants voted personal meaning, therapeutic benefits and affect regulation as most important.

The results indicate that irrespective of age, people believe that music listening has an effect on their well-being. However, the mechanisms through which beneficial effects on well-being are achieved seem to vary between different age groups and includes emotional experiences, reminiscence, experience of meaning and transcendence through music listening, among others.

Music supports well-being in a multitude of ways. It can be used for stress relief, as part of social bonding as well as for emotional regulation. As we age, our goals and needs change, as well as own sense of what constitutes well-being. As a result, the ways in which music can support well-being also change. In future studies, it will be interesting to explore what individual needs for well-being are in different contexts, how age influences them and how music could specifically be used to respond to these needs, throughout life.

BY MARKO AHTISAARI AND KETKI KARANAM

REFERENCES:

Groarke, J. M., & Hogan, M. J. (2015). Enhancing wellbeing: An emerging model of the adaptive functions of music listening. Psychology of Music, 44(4), 769–791. doi:10.1177/0305735615591844